Semper Simul
by The Projective Otaku
Summary: As Soul and Maka recover from their first fight with the demon swordsman, Lord Death institutes a new decree, requiring meisters to team up in order to avoid a similarly desperate situation. Who has Lord Death teamed them up with? How will they affect Soul and Maka? Will continue past end of series.
1. New Friends

Semper Simul

Chapter 1

New Friends – What does it all mean?

Maka covered her head with her hands as another artillery shell landed only a few dozen yards away. She let out a small whimper, part fear, and part forced by the shockwave of the ensuing explosion. She looked down the trench to her left, and there was Soul. He was covered in matt black body armor reminiscent of those sci-fi games he and Black*Star play incessantly. She could tell it was him by the small decal painting on his helmet reminiscent of the pins on his sweatband. He was holding a massive sniper rifle close to his chest. His soul was arctic cold, nearly no emotion at all. To her right was a girl she didn't recognize, her armor was slightly different than Soul's, and she was firing some kind of machine gun at the advancing soldiers. Her soul was permeated with bloodlust and absolute… glee.

A man grabbed her shoulder and pulled her visor to face his. The man had different armor than the other two and was armed with one of those rifle-machine gun thingies. Assault Rifles! He had an assault rifle with a tube underneath the barrel. Maka looked down and realized she had one of these as well. She stared for a second in amazement at the weapon. When did she start using guns? The man shook her, obviously trying to tell her something. She wanted to hear it desperately, anything to make sense of this maelstrom she was in, but all was silence. She realized she couldn't hear anything but a monotone ringing in her ears.

The man ducked, pulling her down with him, as another shell landed near-by, showering them in more mud and shrapnel. He seemed to come to some decision at that time. He let go of her arm and gestured to the girl to Maka's right. They both jumped out of the trench and charged into the thick smoke that had gathered around them. Soul jerked his head, probably in conjuncture with a curse Maka wouldn't have approved of. He unholstered a pistol at his right thigh, slinging the small cannon over his shoulder, before he too ran off into the smoke. Maka then began to hear a screaming. It was singular, unceasing, and familiar…

* * *

Maka awoke with a start, banging her head on the lamp as the alarm continued to blare. She had fallen asleep at her desk over a book of lore that might have some information on black blood or the demon swordsman or… something. She calmed down a bit once she realized that it was Saturday, then tensed back up as she realized that Lord Death would be giving Soul and Maka their partners today. During Soul and Maka's convalescence after their encounter with the demon swordsman and the witch, Lord Death decreed that Meisters would travel in teams of at least two meister-weapon pairs in response to said encounter. Should the team encounter a witch, the theory goes, two pairs should be enough to at least retreat in good order, instead of being annihilated.

They were supposed to report to the Death Room by 11:00 am and it was already 8:30. To Maka this was cutting pretty close, but Soul strongly disagreed as Maka slammed his door open. He groaned and rolled deeper into his comforter cocoon as she tore open his blinds and the light streamed in over him.

"Get up Soul, we're late!" Maka said in a near hysterical state as she left the room, not bothering to see whether or not he complied. Soul emerged from his layer just enough to see the clock and release a long moan. He returned to the comfortable, loving darkness of sleep. Almost immediately, or so it seemed to him, a large book came down where his head was and he screamed, as the comforter did not provide ballistic protection from such a powerful kinetic projectile. He screamed as he tried to disentangle himself, falling to the floor in the process.

"If you're not ready by the time I finish breakfast I'll get out Webster's!" She fumed. He emerged to find her resembling an enraged bull, despite having some of her best school clothes on and signs of a recent shower. Soul's eyes widened. Tsubaki had gotten her a massive centennial-whosemwhatsome edition for her birthday last year and Soul had already suffered a number of concussions from the massive BRASS BOUND dictionary. Who binds a book in f'ing METAL?! Soul immediately got up and headed for the shower.

Maka stood over the stove, frying some eggs in toast for her and Soul, an apron covering her best sweater vest, the black one with the DWMA sigil on the left breast. The dream had already been forgotten in her haste and she began to contemplate who their partners were going to be. Tsubaki and Black*Star had already been paired up with Kid and the Thompson Sisters, so she was going to be stuck with someone else. Ox Ford and Harver de Éclair? Maka shuddered at the thought. Kim and Jacky would be okay she guessed. She was left to these wandering thoughts as Soul came into the dining room, wearing the red dress shirt and white-on-black pinstripe pants she had laid out for him. Lucky for him, he came out just as she was putting the eggs on the table. He stopped short and looked at her nervously, but she nodded with approval, he had met the deadline.

Maka busied herself with her breakfast and Soul read the funnies, leisurely consuming the yolk-soaked toast. Eventually they both finished their breakfast and headed up to the Death Weapon-Meister Academy. They walked up the hill toward the most prominent feature in Death City, Nevada, as the motorcycle would have messed up their carefully groomed appearances. Carefully groomed in Maka's case at least, Soul's hair was as wild and unruly as ever. It was early November in the Mojave and the weather was pleasant and Maka took the opportunity to clear her head as they headed up the steep, winding roads of Death City.

They arrived half an hour early, much to Soul's chagrin, and Maka knocked on Death's Door. The large oak affair swung open slowly and they approached the center platform through the series of Japanese-style wooden arches.

"Howdy! Welcome! How's it goin'!" Lord Death greeted them as they stepped up on the platform.

"Good, Lord Death." Maka replied.

"Pretty good." Soul said.

"You're early as always, Maka. Why don't you guys have some tea while we wait for our other guests?" He said, gesturing to the low-set table and cushions with a tea set on top that hadn't been there a moment before.

They both murmured polite thank-yous as all three sat down. The cups were already filled and didn't seem to become depleted as they continued to drink the warm liquid. Maka's cup contained her favorite Irish breakfast tea, while Soul's had that Sri Lankan tea he liked so much. Lord Death said he had Earl Grey in his, but that was up for debate, as nobody knew if he actually drank the tea or not. He made slurping sounds, but had no mouth. One of the eternal mysteries of the universe. Soon Maka's curiosity got the better of her, she set her cup down with a clink.

"Lord Death, if it's not too much to ask, who are we being paired with?" Maka said, her hands curled on top of her knees in anticipation. Lord Death chuckled slightly before replying.

"I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!" He said as he took another loud slurp of his tea.

Maka let out a quiet yet immensely frustrated sigh. She unclenched her hands and forced herself to calmly, and quietly, drink her tea. Soul had been subdued throughout the short exchange and Maka swore she could see a small smirk on his face, obscured by the raised tea cup. They would talk about THAT when they got home. The rest of the wait passed in silence, then at the very moment Soul's digital wristwatch beeped the hour, they all heard the door open. The clacking steps sounded offendingly loud in the cavernous chamber. Maka's tension grew exponentially with each step. After what seemed an eternity, the new arrivals closed with the pedestal.

One was a boy and one was a girl, both about Maka and Soul's age. The boy was built with a wrestler's body; thick at the waist and shoulders. His head seemed slightly narrow and he had a flat-top. It actually resembled a jar, bringing credence to the old cat-call. The girl was also thick and muscular, but not unshapely. Her hair was loose, but was only a couple of centimeters long. They both wore navy blue slacks with red stripes running down the outside, and navy blue coats, matching the pants, with brass buttons and red trimmings. They wore polished black dress shoes and had white wide-brimmed hats with black bills under their arms. White gloves and a white waist belt brought the whole thing together. The only insignia was on their collars and printed on the brass belt buckle, a death head superimposed on a diagonal anchor, surmounted by an eagle. All-in-all, Maka felt like she had underdressed. The boy stepped up on the platform, with the girl close behind. He delivered a sharp salute to Lord Death.

"Maka, Soul, these are your new partners, Erwin Rommel Sterling and Victoria Johnston. Erwin, Vic, this is Maka Albarn and Soul Eater, please have a seat." Lord Death said, gesturing to the appropriate individuals and then the chair. The boy, Erwin, gave a curt nod and sat on one of the cushions, opposite Maka, and the girl, Vic, sat opposite Soul. Maka cocked her head, wracking her brain. She had heard that name before, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"I always thought you had an interesting name, Erwin." Lord Death said after the two had taken their seats, "You know I had the pleasure of meeting one Colonel Rommel when he was commandant at the Theresian Military Academy, a brilliant man, very polite, before the whole WWII-Hitler problem off course." That hit it, General Erwin Rommel, commander of the famed 'Ghost Division' and '_Afrika Korps_', he is widely considered one of the greatest military minds in history. She had read his books when she first became a combat meister, alongside other German treatise on war such as '_Achtung – Panzer!' _and Clausewitz's 'On War'. It had helped her attain her trademark aggressive combat style.

Erwin made an affirmative grunt before taking a sip of his cup, which Maka noticed wasn't filled with tea, in fact, neither of the new comers had tea cups, both had coffee mugs. Vic's contained an aromatic Colombian brew while Erwin's had… hot chocolate of all things.

"What was the alternative again Eir, Eh?" Vic smirked. She had a strong accent, colonial English of some kind. Erwin mumbled something into his cup.

"What was that? We couldn't quite hear you." She put her hand up to her ear.

"Heinz!" Erwin growled, "Heinz Guderian." He started to mumble, "I swear, I don't know why I tell you anything."

"Just like the ketchup, HAH!" She continued, unfazed. She started to laugh and nearly fell out of her chair. Soul smirked, trying to hide a laugh. Maka thought it was a tad mean. It apparently didn't bother Erwin overly much. He simply assumed a resigned look, the kind you use with unruly children.

"Well Lord Death, thank you for the cocoa, and for introducing us, I'm sure you have much better things to do." He said.

"It's no problem at all, Erwin." Lord Death said as he got up, signaling an end to the proceedings. As soon as everyone was up, the table, beverages, and cushions disappeared in the blink of an eye. That always creeped Maka out.

"Well if you'll excuse us, we have to outfit these civvies." Erwin said, a slight grin on his face.

"I'm sure you do." Lord Death replied. Erwin turned to his toward his new partners.

"Maka, Soul, if you'll come with me, we'll get you outfitted." He said.

"Woa, woa, woa, Outfitted?" Soul replied,

"Yes, outfitted. If you think I'm going into combat with half my team unarmored, think again." Erwin's voice had attained an air of authority. Not overbearing or tyrannical, just a 'come with me if you want to live' kind of authority. Soul shut his trap, and they followed the two uniformed figures out of the Death Room.

* * *

**Please review, I need to know whether or not it's worth my time to continue.**

**There may be lemons later, but that's a LONG way away.**

**I designed their uniforms after the USMC dress uniform, just FYI, insignia too.**

**I did the pic myself, spliced the US roundel with the DWMA Skull. Feel free to use it.**

**Once again, reviews, it's like ambrosia, need it, want it, love it.**

**Kid/Liz/Patty/Black*Star/Tsubaki will get here later, Crona too.**


	2. Old Problems

Semper Simul

Chapter 2

Old Problems – What does the future hold?

Soul had to visit Dr. Medusa before the group could continue. Maka, Erwin, and Vic stood outside the infirmary as they waited for Soul. Vic kept chewing and popping a piece of bubble gum, which was getting on Maka's nerves. Erwin didn't seem to have anything to say at all, he just stared blankly in front of him, immersed in his own thoughts. Every once in a while he would straighten his uniform, or adjust the hat underneath his arm. Maka's patience was beginning to wear thin as she broke the silence.

"So, do you live in Death City?" Stupid, stupid question, of course he does! Where else would he live! Erwin looked at her, startled by the sudden noise in the deathly quiet hallway.

"I do." He replied after a moment.

"Where?" Crap! That was just creepy, you sound like a stalker! ", if you don't mind." She amended.

"Vic and I share an apartment in the South Quarter." He said, unaware that that was a strange question to ask someone you just met.

"Really? Soul and I share a place there too." She said. The awkwardness was increasing by the moment. "I'm going to check on Soul." She said to no one in particular as she left the small group. Vic hid a small smile behind a large pink bubble. Her partner took after his namesake on the battlefield, but he was a social ignoramus. Mostly it was just frustrating, but at times like this it provided a modicum of entertainment. Maka opened the door to the infirmary and Vic caught a glimpse of Soul. He had a long wound going from his upper left shoulder to his right hip. Vic's only thought was that that was going to be one heck of a scar, but Maka's shoulders slumped and a black cloud seemed to gather over her. She mumbled something before closing the door and resuming her spot next to Erwin.

"I read the report." He said, and it was Maka's turn to look surprised. Gone was the seeming indifference earlier, his tone now was sympathetic and soft.

"What?" she said, looking at him, the sound of another voice broke through the depressing darkness that had gathered about her.

"I said that I read the report, about your battle with the Demon Swordsman. You should be proud, not many people would sacrifice themselves like that. Especially not when they were surprised, confused, and surrounded. Most people abandon their upper brain function at a time like that, which suggests that his first instinct is to protect you." He replied. He was vacantly looking at the floor and Vic sighed. He always spoiled the gooshy parts by analyzing things that shouldn't be analyzed and thinking through facts when he should be spontaneous. This didn't seem to bother Maka too much.

"I know." She said, even softer, her thoughts her own.

"What's with all the gloom guys, let's go." They all looked up to see Soul, fully clothed once again standing in the entrance to the infirmary.

"Yes, let's." Erwin replied, standing up straight and straightening his uniform before leading the group toward the exit.

Vic and Erwin put their hats on when they exited the building, but kept their coats on, even in the growing desert heat. They all struck north, going quite a ways into the upper-class district. They even passed Kid's mansion, waving at Liz and Patty as they supervised Kid on the roof, trying to scare off a bird that had landed there, thus making the building asymmetrical. They eventually arrived at the bottom of the hill, adjacent the walls, where a large compound was located, surrounded by a large barbed-wire fence.

They approached the guarded gate of the menacing facility. Erwin and Vic flashed their ID cards at the hapless GI corporal before he passed the group through. The site was surprisingly large and had a number of different building ranging from stoic-looking concrete affairs to multi-story glass-plated offices. Erwin led them to one of these offices which had OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT frosted on the glass door. The lobby was warm and inviting, mostly lit by sunlight streaming in through the windows. The 30-ish secretary behind the desk obviously knew Erwin and Vic.

"Afternoon Eir, the pools are ready, just like you asked." She said, smiling at the group.

"Thank you, Erin." Erwin said, nodding courteously to the woman as he took off his hat. They headed to one of the elevator areas behind the receptionist's desk. Erwin took them down to sub level 3, a bland area devoid of the fancy frills of the more public lobby. The walls were the gray of the concrete they were made of, complimented by exposed pipes and large metal doors leading off to god knows where.

"Here we are." Erwin said as they approached one of the doors, this one stenciled with NANITE APPLICATION POOL in large white letters. He pulled out one of those credit-card like badges and waved it over the small black box next to the door. It buzzed and the door swung open. Inside was a tiled room with a few wooden benches and phosphorescent lights. It was exceptionally clean, even sterile. Maka and Soul had to squint after coming in from the relative dimness of the hall. At the back of the room were two doors, both with the traditional bathroom stick figures indicating the designated gender of such a facility.

"These are the nanite application pools." Erwin said, turning to face the group. He started to rub his hands together nervously. "When in combat we use a skin-tight vac suite; kind of like a scuba suit, except that this one can stand up to the full vacuum of space"

"You expect us to go into SPACE?!" Soul asked quite rudely.

"No, but it does provide the perfect protection against CBRN attacks." Erwin replied, not the least bit irritated by the interruption. Maka, still locked in a classroom mindset, raised her hand.

"Uhhh, yes, Maka?" Erwin said, less sure of how to respond.

"What's sea-burn?" Maka asked, she rarely found something she didn't know, at least not from the mouth of another human being.

"It's an acronym: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear; C.B.R.N., but we pronounce it sea-burn." Erwin replied. "It basically means that, if the suit is sealed, you'll be protected from disease, poison gas, even a good bit of radiation, although staying for long periods in areas infected with such agents is not recommended."

"Hmmm" Maka said, digesting the information.

"Anyway," Erwin said, continuing his… lecture. "we achieve this relatively high level of protection by nano-technology. Hundreds of nanites, or microscopic robots, will conform to the shape of your body, making the suit skin-tight, thus allowing us to mount plastic-alloy plates to the armor via magnet."

"How do these 'nanites' conform to our bodies, again?" Soul asked, suspecting he may not like the answer.

"You have to get into a pool, as it's easier to get things to swim than fly." Erwin answered.

"And we'll be…" Soul dropped.

"Naked." Erwin finished. The awkward reaching full maturity, seeming to permeate every crack and crevice in the room. "Therefore Vic will escort Maka through the process and I'll escort Soul." He said, gesturing nervously to the appropriately marked doors.

* * *

They emerged from the other side of the pool area. Maka and Soul were shivering, their wet hair falling about their heads, while Vic and Erwin stood there fully clothed, although they had removed their jackets, belts, and gloves, rolling up the sleeves of their white dress shirts. Both Maka and Soul were covered in inky blackness from their ankles all the way up to where the neck met the chin, even coming into gloves at the hands. The suits looked tight and uncomfortable, but where actually light and airable, not constricting in the least. They were also light as a feather, thanks to their carbon nano tube construction. Erwin clapped his hands together.

"Now for the fun part." He said as he approached the opposite wall. He slid open a panel and pressed a few buttons. Nothing happened for a moment or two, then the entire wall slid into the ceiling, revealing a rack containing two sets of matte black armor, minus helmets. Maka thought they looked kinda stupid hanging there, but Soul gasped in wonder and approached the armor as if approaching a god.

"They're… beautiful!" he said, reaching up to them.

"Thanks… I designed them myself." Erwin replied, not sure what to do with the compliment.

Soul went on admiring the armor sets. They had an upper cuirass that covered the chest and neck, with magnetic clips connecting the front and back piece over the shoulders and under the arms. The lower cuirass consisted of multiple vertically segmented plates connecting at the belt and upper cuirass. The set also included upper arm guards, shin guards, thigh guards, bracers, armored shoes, epaulettes, and a cup. One was obviously more feminine and the other more masculine. Vic and Erwin began fitting these to Maka and Soul, respectively.

"What are these little loops for?" Soul asked, indicated the cloth strips attached every centimeter or so all over the armor.

"I call those dragon scales." Erwin replied "They're for accessories like bandoleers, canteens, holsters, etcetera."

Soul looked thoughtfully at the loops. Erwin stepped back and surveyed the two young warriors before nodding his head in satisfaction. He returned to the pad in the wall and pressed a few more buttons. The rack that had contained the armor went the way of the wall itself and a new rack presented itself from below. This one contained every type of full-face helmet imaginable. Some resembled bike helmets, while others resembled that of the green guy on the front of Soul's favorite videogame series (God knows she had picked it up enough to know.). Soul immediately began salivating and ran up to the helmets. He started trying on the helms and Maka began to yell at him but looked at Erwin instead, who just shook his head and smiled, gesturing to the rack for her. She smiled back as she realized he had made these. He probably didn't get much gratitude for it, so she just walked up to the rack and picked one out, a simple one with a gold visor. It had a prominent respirator on the front and didn't look particularly advanced. Soul eventually settled on one with a black visor that went from the chin to the top of the head. It had a chilling representation of a skull on the front and the respirator on the back. Erwin looked at them expectantly.

"Well?" He asked, "Put them on!" Soul immediately put his on and gasped in amazement. Vic had to help get Maka's hair into a bun before she could get hers on. When the helmet went all the way over, the suit responded, clicking into the shoes and helmet and squeezing her a little tighter, eliciting a gasp of surprise. Then the display lit up and it changed to a sound of amazement. Small computer tabs at the bottom led to areas where the armor was like a personal computer: documents, music, programs; or tactical areas that brought up local maps and intelligence, and another tab for communications. The helmet also automatically began feeding her information about her environment; specifically a hazard display that when she looked at it, expanded to give her information on the local rad count, air toxicity, etc. Little circles identified the other people and items in the room, which also focused and expanded when she looked at them. Soul and Maka were still looking around in amazement when Erwin began to speak.

"You can personalize your HUD, or heads-up-display, in the settings tab at the bottom." He said, displaying more emotion at their reaction to his toys than Maka had seen up to this point. "We'll teach you how to do complicated things like bring up thermals and night vision later, but for now, if you'll follow me." He opened a side door to another room. Vic walked in first, followed by Soul, Maka, and then Erwin, closing the door behind them.

The room was an armory, filled with the weapons of modern warfare. Guns, knives, and rocket launchers cluttered table and shelves and racks in a seemingly haphazard but no doubt organized manner. Soul made an indignant sound similar to a squeal that he would no doubt deny vehemently later. Maka was simply confused, why did they need guns? Soul was her weapon. She expressed these views to Erwin.

"Two reasons," he replied, "number one: it provides you with a greater tactical flexibility. If he is in weapon form, you can be in only one place at a time; but if you are both in human form, armed with firearms, you can be at two places at a time." He sighed, "He also needs to be your secret weapon. Going in with a talking scythe pretty much guarantees that you're a meister, but if you go in with him in human form, he can be your trick card."

"Hmmm" Maka thought about the strategy for a second, and it made sense. She went out to pick out her new gun. Soul picked up a giant flipping cannon, her visor displays told her it was a Barrett M-107 .50 Caliber Anti-Materiel Rifle. Maka knew she didn't want anything quite so ostentatious, so she went to the pistol section. She picked out a moderately sized one, one with a fading gray finish and old wooden grip.

"Good choice." She heard, turning to see Erwin. "An original M1911 .45, one of my favorites, although I prefer the newer models." He thought for a moment. "You're going to need a main weapon." He said before going over a rack of rifles.

"No, I don't need anything el…" she began as he put a black assault rifle in her hands.

"Yes, you do, and this is the best, it's the one I use." He said rather sternly. She looked down at it. Her HUD said it was a SCAR-H, Mark 17, 7.62mm NATO. It had a stumpy scope her visor identified as an ACOG and a laser pointer on the side. "You might want to get a grenade launcher for that." He continued. She looked at him incredulously, although he couldn't tell through the helmet. He shrugged as if he could. "Never hurts." He said and she grabbed one of the tube structures off a table and fastened it to the bottom of her weapon.

Soul had retrieved pistol as well, a Berretta M9 with a silencer, and Vic was helping him strap all of the required gear onto the dragon scale hard points. Erwin shrugged as Vic was occupied and helped Maka with her gear. Once again, awkward reared its ugly head. When the chore was finally completed, Maka and Soul looked at themselves in the mirror. Maka was struck by how much she had changed in the past half hour. She had gone from a quirky school girl to a warrior. They looked like they could have been the veterans of a hundred battles, and Maka felt strangely at home in the black plastic garb. She had dedicated her life up until this point to the eradication of evil, and now to protect Soul and those she loved. Not so strange she decided. This would help enable her to defeat any who threatened her friends or what she believed in. She nodded in satisfaction.

The rest of the afternoon was spent learning the basic controls of the armor. Night vision, thermal scanners, reactive camouflage, the works. They spent three days going to the facility learning the advanced skills of soldiery. Not enough to turn them into true warriors, but then again they were already warriors, they just needed to learn the finer points. After that they were operational.


	3. London Bridge is Falling Dow

Semper Simul

Chapter 3

London Bridge is Falling Down – What is red and white and black all over?

Lord Death had been holding out on them. It was a week before he let them take on any extracurricular lessons. A week of increasingly dull lectures and, in the case of Dr. Stein's class, repetitive dissections. But he had to crack sometime. He let them take a relatively minor assignment, just one rogue serial killer. Then Maka and Soul had their tutoring session with Stein the day before they got on the plane. It was odd to Erwin, who, in the past week, had gathered that they were pretty close. Then suddenly they weren't talking to each other, simply glaring. The team was on the tarmac, getting ready to head out, when Erwin confronted her about the problem.

"What?!" She nearly screamed as Erwin put his hand on her epaulette, trying to get her attention.

"Listen, I don't know what the hell is going on between you two, but if you let it cloud your vision, I'm shutting you down, no more missions." Erwin said, a little more forcefully than was necessary, but he didn't like getting yelled at.

"You can't do that." She scoffed.

"You bet your pretty ass I can." He replied. This took her aback. Up until this point he had used fairly conservative language around her, while Vic was the one who cursed incessantly. She grunted an affirmative before putting her helmet on, signaling an end to the conversation. She had had flip-down 50x zoom visor attached since she first got the helmet, since she didn't have the big scope Soul had. She flipped this up and took a seat in the gaping cargo bay of the behemoth US Air Force C-17 Globemaster. Usually meisters just got economy class on a commercial flight, with a hundred and one layovers, drastically increasing travel time, but the Air Force cargo MAC flight went non-stop from Nellis AFB, outside Las Vegas, to RAF Northolt, in London. This reduced the time Nevada-England from 14 hours to nearly 10. Those were still ten long hours in a plane stuffed to the gills with Humvees and pallets covered in massive amount of military materiel. Needless to say Maka sat on one side of the hold, near the cockpit while Soul sat on the other side, near the ramp. The trip passed near silence, with only the hum of the engine to keep Erwin and Vic company.

They arrived at 2000 hours Zulu (8:00pm at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, which just so happened to be local time.). The sun had set long ago, and darkness had settled over the city. The team took an RAF helicopter to a dock on the Thames, where the murderous bastard had been last spotted. He was still there, and was quickly dispatched. One untrained knife-wielding maniac against four trained killers with guns is just no contest. Since the helicopter wasn't going to be back for a while, they decided to take a look off of London Bridge, which was just a few meters way. They took off their helmets and enjoying the chilly night air, their vac-suit life support systems more than enough to protect them from the bite of the winter winds.

Suddenly Maka froze. Soul and Vic were too busy leaning dangerously over the rails and screaming their lungs out into the crosswind. Like he had said a week ago, Erwin had indeed read their files, and had kept a close eye on Maka to see if she picked anything up on her acute soul sense. He took one look at her and put his helmet back on, looking around to see what she had sensed. He didn't see anything, and his suit didn't pick up anything on the bio scans, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

"Button up!" Erwin commanded. Maka snapped out of her trance; Soul and Vic stopped their little Titanic reenactment. They all immediately put their helmets on and crouched, looking for whatever had spooked their _de facto_ commander. Just then a figure seemed to waver into existence.

"Wow, you can penetrate the magic eye's cloak, I was just going to sneak up on you and kill you, but I suppose that wouldn't be very manly of me… yea… this is good." The figure rambled. He had on old horizontal stripe prison garb complete with a ball-and-chain around his right ankle. His left eye was carved with ancient runic script and had a tattoo over it saying 'No Future'.

"Open Fire!" Erwin state, and the group opened up. He had announced his intention to kill them. Maka had already taken aim and squeezed off a perfect burst into his collar bone, the 7.62mm rounds tearing right through his upper chest. Vic hadn't been so prepared and trailed a long squeeze up his left leg and arm with her M240 MMG. Soul, being the cool sniper type he liked to portray himself as, nailed him between the eyes with a double tap from his 9mm. Erwin fired a smoke grenade at his feet, covering them as they took cover behind the massive masonry towers supporting the west side of the bridge.

"Agh! God Dammit!" He screamed. They heard cracking bone and incredibly labored breathing. "Agh! Oh! Ahhh. That's better."

"This is bad." Maka said as she finally recognized her enemy.

"What?! What's bad?" Vic asked over the comms.

"It's the legendary Wolfman!" She replied, half hysterical. Shit. The rest of them remembered that nightmare from history class. A member of Napoleon's Grande Armee, he had deserted during their humiliating retreat from Moscow. He had then gone on a power trip, discovering the arts of transformation and immortality. He was a revolutionary anarchist, and soon earned the enmity of the DWMA by breaking every rule in the book, simply because there was a rule book. He had taken more than he could chew when he took the Grandwitch's left eye. He had been presumed dead, but apparently, judging by is current get up, had been imprisoned, simply because he couldn't be killed. Erwin had to keep his team focused.

"Soul, Maka! Go meister. Vic and I'll provide covering fire. Go!" He said, pushing them out into the street while he ran to the opposite tower. Vic and Erwin laid down a nasty crossfire. Soul went weapon with Maka making a perfect catch, and then Maka just dropped Soul, right there on the ground. Inside Erwin's squad leader helmet, Maka's icon in the HUD went from green to yellow. He double blinked at it and it came up with her suits full body medical scan. Her hands were shaded in yellow, burn wounds it said. Their soul wavelengths were out of sync.

"Maka! Soul! Get out of there!" Erwin yelled, but it was too late. Wolfy had taken the momentary pause to change into his true form, now he charged Maka, hitting her dead center. She flew back, her armor taking the brunt of the impact, but not all, and instead of landing in the powdery white snow that surrounded them, and ice pillar formed behind her, which she hit going an impressive speed. In Erwin's HUD, her ribs now glowed a bright orange, several had fractures or broken clean from the impact. Her suit immediately began applying pain suppressants.

He tried to follow up with a roundhouse kick, but she had fallen to the ground due to his earlier attacks, and he went to high. He did hit the ice pillar she was leaning against, which shatters in explosion of fragments, some as small as needles and others as big as Soul's bike. She flew across the bridge to the railing. He then went to create another attack, some kind of beam from his mouth, but it misfired, skewering himself with an icicle the size of a trash can.

Even from fifty yards away, Erwin imagined he could see her consternated face, working out a solution to the problem, but you don't have the luxury of standing around thinking about things in combat.

"Maka! Move!" Erwin Screamed as he continued to fire rounds at Wolfy over there. Calling her proved to be a mistake. Maka turned her head to face Erwin, and in that instant, Wolfman lunged her. She jumped right, narrowly avoiding the several-hundred pound creature, but while she was in the air, unable to dodge, he swung his right leg around, the one with the ball and chain. Around the ball had formed an ice spheres as big as he was, and it hit Maka on her right side, forcing her to the ground. Erwin's readouts went red over her ribs, if she didn't finish tis soon, she could have some major organ damage. Vic put in an emergency extraction call to the RAF base, asking them to bring a medic.

Maka pushed herself up, talking to Soul. Erwin couldn't hear, but the gist was clear when Soul transformed back into a scythe. Erwin saw Maka cringe when Soul fell into her hands. His readouts over her hands went from yellow to orange to an angry red. She screamed. Erwin could hear it this time, loud and bloodthirsty. She charged the Wolfman, scoring a perfect hit underneath the ribs, up into the chest cavity. He seemed to be unaffected by the fatal blow and got Maka with a right hook, fracturing her jawline. She used the force to pull Soul outside the Wolfman and charged back in, but this time she didn't even get close. He came around with his left and got her square in the gut, throwing her into the railing once again, this time cracking a shoulder blade. She slumped, and she and Soul start to bicker. Erwin sighed and opened up a comm link to the two of them.

"Shut up." He said, and there was an audible click as Maka and Soul both fell silent. "Listen, I don't know what this is between you two, but we are all on the same side here, and you two are partners, you have one of the most intimate relationships possible and you're going to ruin that? Wolfy over there is the enemy, not each other." Maka looked down, so did Soul, and Vic had to admit, he wasn't very elegant or heartwarming, but he got straight down to it.

Erwin heard Maka sigh over the comms, and then he the wind started to pick up. Maka began to be surrounded in a blue glow haze. Soul and Maka were resonating. It was a little sloppy, Erwin thought, letting a lot of energy leak out into the special effects, but the important thing was that they were doing it. Soul's blade began to expand into a massive crescent, glowing white with power, and once again Maka charged. Wolfman expanded his tail to provide a temporary shield.

She came down on it like a bolt of lightning, all powerful and brilliant. The continued impact created sparks like a buzz saw trying to cut through a solid steel block. Maka continued to push, eventually piercing the outer fur. This must have been the actual protection because once she had broken through she brought Soul across, cutting the end half of the tail off and opening a nasty gash on his torso. The blow also sent him into the railing, but his larger body size meant that he went through and over the edge.

Then it went slow motion for Eir, he saw Maka drop Soul and run after the Wolfman, but after that it was all black. Vic would later tell him that Soul grabbed Maka's ankle, but that the Wolfman had in turn grabbed on to Maka. She wasn't really clear on how he had come up beside Soul on the railing. He wouldn't respond to her calling him, he just raised his weapon and emptied the clip into the Wolfman's head, narrowly missing Maka. The big 7.62mm rounds tore down through the Wolfman's body, some coming out the back and some lodging in the ribs, shoulder blades, and skull. He may have been immortal, but he flinched anyway, letting go and dropping down to the rushing river below. He must have tried to recover somehow and backfired again, because halfway down he became encased in a capsule of ice.

The next thing he knew was standing over watch for a No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron AW109 helicopter that was loading Maka inside, strapped to a stretcher. He cursed and got in. The RAF medic inside looked to protest but Erwin simply glared at him. The medic couldn't see through the blue visor, but the message was clear, and he went back to stabilizing Maka. The inside was plush, this was the helicopter transport for the Queen, after all, and wasn't exactly suited for medevac. Maka lay in the isle in between two rows of facing seats. The RAF medic from before and his partner were in the back row and Erwin was in the front, brooding. He looked out the window and realized that the pilot had landed on the riverfront road right next to the bridge and took a moment to respect the pilot and mentally noted to thank and compliment him later. Another AW109 came in behind them as they took off, presumably to take the rest of the team back to RAF Northolt.

Eir had been so deep in his thoughts that he was surprised when they landed in the lawn of Hammersmith Hospital, not far from Northolt. He accompanied Maka into the lobby, but the surgeon was unaffected by the faceless visor's intimidation factor. Eir's suppressed upper brain function told him that the surgeon probably knew what he was doing, and that he would just get in the way. Eir submitted and sat down on the bench. He was still in full combat gear, and he sat across from a little boy who had the flu or something. The boy looked at him in awe and wonder, the mother simply looked horrified and ushered the kid to another bench. After a quarter hour, Soul and Vic came in and sat next to him.

After three hours of excruciating patience the grizzly surgeon came out and brought the three to the ICU. They had figured out the emergency armor release and she was now covered in sterile hospital sheets and bandages. She was awake, if only just.

"Hey guys." She said, forcing a smile. Soul took off his helmet and smiled.

"Hey you." He said, his voice choked and his eyes red. He must have been worried sick. Erwin and Vic took off their helmets, their faces like stone.

"How soon do you want to be up and running?" Erwin asked, his voice as implacable as his face. Maka's face grew business like.

"As soon as possible." She replied.

"I can have you on your feet again in a week." He replied, completely seriously.

"I don't like being lied to Erwin." She said, her tone dark. "My x-rays look like a fricken jigsaw puzzle. The doc said a year's recover, maybe more, if I recover at all."

"I'm not lying, I really can have you at 100% in a week" He said in turn, still stone-faced and cold.

"How then?" She asked, not wanting to hope.

"Nanites." He said. "Take a pill once a day for a week and the nanites will nit you bone together by the end of the regimen. The only problem is we can't simply localize them to one area, if we put them in you, we'll have to put in enough for all of you. There'll by other benefits as well, increased strength, reduced recovery times, etc."

"Why didn't we do this before?!" She screamed, a smile crossing her face, "This is brilliant!"

"We'll have to get you back to Death City, all of my equipment is there; I'll arrange a spot on one of the MAC medical flights." He replied, a small smile creeping onto his own face.

Three days later she was declared able to travel, and The Royals lent them one of their British Aerospace 125 jets for the trip to Ramstein AFB outside Frankfurt, Germany. From there they hopped a C17 back to the States with seven wounded American service members. They landed at Camp Springs, Maryland, where they changed planes again, this time Erwin pulled out a card and got 4 first-class tickets going from Baltimore to Las Vegas. From there, the CH-53 Sea Stallion assigned to Erwin's compound picked them up and went straight back to Death City, home.

* * *

**Acronyms: RAF-Royal Air Force; MAC - Military Airlift Command; AFB - Air Force Base; No. - Number**

**Reviews!**

**I know the grammar sucks, I'll come back and clean it all up later.**

**Reviews!**

**Hey, I need suggestions on whether to make Crona a boy or a girl in the end, I'm leaning toward girl.**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing, absolutely jack squat.**


	4. The Newcomer

Semper Simul

Chapter 4

The Newcomer – What the hell are you doing?!

Maka sat slumped over her desk, a book recounting the history of Yugoslavia open on her desk, as there had been a rumor that the essay question on The Test was over the Eastern Bloc. Ahhh, The Exam. The Big One. She had been absent three of the last four weeks, first recovering from their battle with the Demon Swordsman, then that debacle in London took five days, that Monday to that Friday, and then the crash recovery with the Nanites had sapped all of her time and will for another week. She still itched like all heck.

She looked at the clock, it said 0200. Erwin had told her to change their clocks to military time so there wouldn't be any confusion on missions. It was confusing in the afternoons, but at 2:00am, it was clear as day, or night, as the case might be. She closed her eyes. Just for a second, just a little rest before she got back to the grindstone…

"Maka!" She heard almost immediately, along with a steady banging on the door. She looked at the clock and a little piece in her called 'self-control' shattered into a million pieces, it was 0730, and school started in thirty minutes. She kicked open the door and ran into the shower.

Ten minutes later, hungry and tired, Maka and Soul arrived at the bottom of the steps leading up to the Academy. There was a little coffee shop at the bottom of the hill, and Maka went in for a pick-her-up. Her hair was dry from the bike ride over, but it was sticking up all over the place. She had deemed not to put on even the little bit of makeup or smell-good stuff she usually used. Her uniform was disheveled and messy as she hurried up to the counter. She ordered something called a 'Monster Java Hour'. She grabbed it and ran out the door, running into a solid wall of green. She staggered back and there was Erwin in his MARPAT fatigues and service hat. He grabbed her arm as she staggered back.

"Maka? Why are you in such a hurry?" He asked as she brushed herself off.

"I'm late for school!" She replied hotly.

"But school doesn't start 'till eight." Erwin said, clearly confused.

"And it's seven fifty!" She said, beginning to push past him.

"What are you talking about? It's only seven twenty." She stopped halfway through the doorway, making it incredibly awkward for Erwin, who was occupying the other half. Just then she heard a maniacal laughing coming from outside. She pushed all the way past Erwin to find Soul on the ground next to his bike, hooting and howling.

Maka's face drained of all emotion. She calmly handed her beverage to Erwin, grabbed a book off the back of the bike, and slammed the spine down on his nose, making a wet crunch and drawing blood. Soul's laughter quickly changed to screaming as he held his face in his hands. Vic started laughing at the holy retribution and Soul lowered his hands to scowl at her. This just made her laugh harder. She grabbed her gut and bowled over, releasing the deep throaty laughter of true amusement. Maka retrieved her beverage and took a seat at one of the inside high tables.

Erwin bought his usual fair, hot chocolate, and sat down next to her, retrieving a small leather-bound book from his backpack, which would look more at home in Afghanistan than a mom-and-pop coffee shop. After a few moments they heard another blood-curdling scream as Vic reset Soul's nose. Erwin winced and Maka simply took a sip from the heart-attack inducing drink.

"So what brings you here?" She asked, She and Soul passed by there every day on their way to school, and they had never seen them here. The fatigues kind of stood out in the sea of school uniforms and hot topic tees.

"Lord Death said that since I was going on DWMA missions that I should be a DWMA student as well." He replied, sipping his scalding beverage with relative impunity.

"Really, what classes do you have?" She asked in turn.

"Yours', other than that I don't really know." He said.

"Well I guess you'll just follow me then." She stated. At that moment a snickering Vic helped a wounded Soul in. They too ordered vaguely coffee like beverages and sat with Maka and Erwin. The rest of the respite was passed in casual conversation amongst the four. Erwin being silent with Maka trying to pry him open. Vic making jokes that walked the line of appropriateness with Soul laughing and shooting out his own. Eventually the time came to climb the stairs of the DWMA, and they set off.

When they reached the top, Maka was beginning to blabber as the possibly dangerous drink hit her blood. Soul and Vic were still exchanging dirty jokes and Erwin was silent, nodding and grunting at appropriate moments in Maka's uninterrupted speech.

"Hey you!" They all heard, looking up. Standing there was a blue-haired devil in loose fitting clothes.

"What is it Black *Star?" Soul asked in an annoyance.

"Not you, those two." Black*Star replied, gesturing to Erwin and Vic. "These noobs don't know that I am going to surpass God, and to prove it I have to challenge them to a duel!" He said, chuckling like he had said something funny. Erwin's face got cold and Vic shook her head, sighing. Although he wasn't public about it, Erwin was very religious, and saying you were going to surpass God put you on his shit list.

"Victoria." He said, dark and sinister. She sighed again before transforming. Soul and Maka watched intently as Erwin and Vic had not been forthcoming about her weapon form, or even which of them was the weapon, it had been an unofficial secret. So it was that she turned into a halberd. She had a seven foot long polished black staff, European oak, she would later tell them. Her butt spike was square and about four inches long. The ax blade was about eighteen inches long, attached to the head about three quarters up, not centered. The back spike was shaped like the top half of a fleur-de-lis and was about five inches long. Her pike end was nearly a foot long, and had a ring halfway down. In this ring was a long banner consisting of three horizontal stripes, thin blue over thick yellow over thin red. Erwin held her at his side in a ready position. Black*Star chuckled again, smiling.

"Tsubaki, kusarigama!" He said, holding his arm out. Tsubaki sighed, although Maka thought that it was probably for different reasons than Vic. She turned into the Japanese chain-scythe and Black*Star grinned even wider. The thought that if his ego got any bigger he wouldn't be able to fit through the door had also crossed Maka's mind.

Black*Star charged Erwin with blazing speed, pretty much his only major developed strength. There was only one problem, Erwin was faster. He moved so quickly that Maka couldn't keep track of him, although she blamed this on the caffeine. Black*Star swung his blades like a tornado and yet not a single strike landed on Erwin. Tsubaki changed into a ninja sword and Black*Star tried to jab at him, but still no luck. Erwin had made no offensive moves up until this point, and Maka, in her caffeine-saturated state, was getting annoyed.

"Come on Eir! Knock that pompous ass to the ground!" Soul stared at her in amazement. Maka never cursed. She was acting more like she was drunk than on a caffeine high.

Erwin looked up at her, narrowly dodging another stab from Black*Star. He sensed that he was getting closer and pressed the attack. Unfortunately for him, Erwin had heard what Maka had said, and promptly set about it. Black*Star tried a slash from is upper left, so Erwin rammed Vic's butt spike into the ground, using her as a vertical axle as he spun around backwards, bring his right heel into contact with the back of Black*Star's head. The ego maniac than went flying into a pillar, possibly cracking his skull in the process. Tsubaki transformed back into a human, sighing again before kneeling down next to her bleeding meister, trying to revive him. Vic transformed back as well.

"I'm going to go and help." She said. He nodded, and she went off to help the poor idiot that had invoked her own meister's wrath.

"Ugggh." The injured meister groaned as he got up like a drunkard. "You didn't use your weapon, that doesn't count." He was still wobbly. Erwin turned a cold, emotionless smile on the boy.

"If I had used Vic, you would be dead instead of bleeding like a little bitch." He said, equally coldly. He then picked up his backpack and strolled inside, flicking Black*Star on the forehead as he passed him. His concussion was as such that he over compensated for the nearly imperceptible blow, falling over backwards next to Tsubaki, unconscious. The weapon sighed once again and began fanning the poor boy. Erwin looked on the scene and sighed himself, there seemed to be a lot of that going around. He wasn't a mean guy, he just couldn't stand assholes. He reached into his bag and pulled out one of those small, concentrated energy drinks and handed it to Tsubaki.

"That will get him on his feet again, even if he is a bit unsteady." He said. Tsubaki smiled and thanked him. The original group then headed inside the massive school.

The first class was Biology with Dr. Stein, which Death the Kid and the Thompson Sisters shared with Maka and Soul, and now Erwin and Vic. Kid met them on the floor of the lecture hall.

"So you're the famous Erwin Sterling?" He asked rhetorically. He then began walking around him, observing the camouflage garbed meister. He would grunt occasionally, nodding some. Maka could hear see how much he was admiring Erwin's symmetry and her face became heated. Soul took his usual seat, just above the eldest Thompson sister.

"We saw you guys at the coffee shop on the way in, what did she have?" Liz asked, only half aware she was asking.

"Uhhh, that monster jaba minute thing." He replied, trying to avert his gaze from the embarrassing conduct of his meister. He also missed Liz staring at him, mouth gaping. What he didn't miss was Patty's incessant and growing laughter.

"What?!" He asked.

"The Monster Java Hour? That thing is like, a third whiskey." Liz replied, astonished Maka had actually been able to buy one. Must have been a busy morning. Soul dropped his head into his book and moaned. So Maka actually WAS drunk. Kid finally finished his inspection of the newcomer and stopped in front of him.

"Nice to have you here." He said, shaking Erwin's hand. They all returned to their seats and the bell rang. Dr. Stein had another dissection planned, this time the Bolivian Rain Newt, an orange and black lizard. Maka fell fast asleep almost immediately, she just couldn't hold her liquor. The rest of the morning passed in relative peace. Maka slept through the first three periods, only to be rudely awakened by their history teacher's nasally voice. After dealing with the onset of losing her hangover virginity, she started to realize that the teacher was arguing with someone, and he was looking at her. She turned to her right and there was Erwin, speaking in what seemed like a mild tone, although her hearing was out of whack and she couldn't tell. She kept looking back and forth from the history teacher to Erwin and back. The professor was becoming flustered, and eventually gestured for him to come down there.

The teacher had a smug look of confidence on his face, but it didn't last long. He apparently had intended for Erwin, a lowly student, to waver and retreat in the face of standing up to the class, but Maka knew better; Erwin was at his finest under pressure, in front of an audience. Erwin grabbed the white chalk and began making bold lines, circles in circles, and eventually it became obvious it was a map. In the bottom left corner a dot labeled Frankfurt-am-Main and in the upper right a dot labeled Leipzig. Down the middle he drew a yellow line. To the left of this line he used blue and to the right, red. He drew rectangles filled with X's and ovals and various other symbols. Above some of these were a series of vertical dashes or small x's. He drew arrows and names that quite frankly confused Maka. When he eventually finished he turned around and picked up the pointer stick and began gesturing, talking as he went. Maka had too much of a headache to pay attention, but she was sure it was riveting, even the notoriously aloof Black*Star was paying attention.

An increasingly flustered professor began shooting back at Erwin, and she saw him return fire. Even she could tell he was winning, he stayed calm while the teacher started screaming, which just reached Maka as a continuous roar, increasing her anguish. This went on for about an hour, by the end of which she had regained control of her senses. She had missed the first part, so she didn't understand any of it, but it was riveting none the less. Erwin had a very active way of public speaking, using descriptive language and intermittent sound effects and elaborate hand gestures. By the time the lunch bell rang he was smiling, a little bit of sweat on his head. The teacher had left half an hour ago, and nobody seemed to have noticed or cared, they had simply paid attention, asking questions and making observations.

As the class was leaving for lunch, Erwin back up. He grabbed his things and smiled wryly at Maka. He asked her in a soft but clear voice o lead them to lunch. Maka nodded, half in acknowledgement and half in thanks, and led them out to the woods, where Black*Star, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, Patty, Maka, and Soul usually gathered for the midday meal.

* * *

**Acronyms: MARPAT = MARine PATtern, it's the green digital camouflage the US Marine Corps wears.**

**Anybody guess what the map was of?**

**Still want reviews, nodody's really talking.**

**I'll make Crona a dude, unless anyone objects.**

**Who wants a Vic chapter?**


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